Jury must apportion fault to Indian tribe that is immune from suit

By John W. Schedler

Native American tribes and other entities that are not amenable to suit still may be held at fault in a tort claim, the Washington Court of Appeals recently held.

In Humes v. Fritz Cos., Inc., no. 53349-5-I (Jan. 31, 2005), Kenneth Humes worked for Shaffer Crane & Equipment as a crane operator. The Tulalip Tribe operated a casino near Marysville, Washington. The Tribe wanted containers in the casino parking lot moved to another location. The Tribe hired Shaffer Crane to provide a crane and operator, Humes. The Tribe hired Fritz Companies to provide a truck and driver, Joe Crowder.

Casino staff controlled the operation. They worked as “riggers,” directing the crane operator and the truck driver and ensuring that the load of containers was secured to the truck.

Humes successfully loaded most of the containers onto the truck that Crowder was operating. But when Humes was loading the last container onto the truck, Crowder drove away before the container was disconnected from the crane or secured to the truck. Because the container was still connected to the crane, the truck pulled the crane up off its wheels. Humes thought that the crane would topple and crush him. He jumped the cab of the crane to the ground. He suffered a fractured leg and other injuries.